Several months have passes since I started thinking about what to write about for the 75th anniversary of T&D World, and now I better get started. There is no shortage of topics. The problem is narrowing the field, so a visit to the archives seemed like a good idea. The 50th anniversary issue was published in November 1999 with a wealth of fascinating articles, but it was the advertisements and photos in the articles that proved invaluable.
There’s a reason for that old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” An eye catching photo makes a reader stop and read the article. The photos in the 1950s section did exactly that for me. There were photos of linemen wearing soft, cloth hats hanging from the top of a pole, supported by their hooks and climbing belts. There wasn’t a bucket truck anywhere in sight or any power tools.
The 1960s section had a really strange photo that certainly caught my attention. There were two linemen doing barehand work on a line, with a weird looking contraption attached to their buckets. I have been up in buckets with linemen doing barehand work, but I’ve never seen anything like this. The caption said I was looking at a basket bonded to the line.
That gadget was an overhead shield arrangement. It covered the back and top of the two buckets to absorb electrostatic field charges. The article went on to say this was the field test that proved workers were safe doing barehand work. It continued saying that a totally new method of line maintenance had been born, which got me thinking. What other technologies introduced in their era are now a major player in ours and will continue?
Joining the Power Grids
From that point on I started studying the technological photos more closely. It quickly became evident there were many of these suitable subject and I’d have to be very selective. As I started the 1970s section. I found one that checked all of the boxes. It was a photo of the HVDC valve hall at Segall converter station. The article said, “in 1977 the Segall converter station was the first permanent tie between the eastern and western power grids.”
For the next decade this imaginary zigzagging boundary line became an HVDC hot-spot. Six more back-to-back converters were built along it to move power between the grids, and I was the project engineer who built one. Today this border is back in the news because of NREL’s Seam Study project. Bridging the boundary has increased in importance. Experts say it holds the key for grid resilient and meeting decarbonization goals.
Moving on to the 1990 section, there was a 1999 news item that really jumped out jump out. HVDC took a quantum leap forward with the debut of voltage source converter (VSC) technology. The first application was a VSC-HVDC submarine cable connection in Sweden followed by a VSC-HVDC back-to-back converter in Texas. Looking back from today’s perspective, it’s doubtful anyone appreciated the full implications of what that VSC-HVDC technology announcement represented.
Never Expected
In the 25 years that have passed since VSC-HVDC technology debuted, VSC-HVDC has redefined moving large blocks of power across extreme distances. It’s exceptionally flexible utilizing overhead-conductors, underground-cables, or submarine-cables technologies or a combination of them. This versatility makes it possible to aesthetically deliver power anywhere it’s needed even within the heart of congested metropolitan areas without being noticed.
Taking it another step further, the European Union (EU) has begun laying the groundwork for developing a VSC-HVDC mesh-grid with multiterminal point-to-point delivery hubs. When completed, it will connect all of the EU’s VSC-HVDC superhighways that transport wind power from the north, and solar power from the south, to load centers across the entire EU. This is a gamechanger that definitely needs to be watched as it develops.
With that in mind, I started thinking specifically about those technologies of the early 21st century that are going to be considered a trailblazing technology when our 100th anniversary issue rolls around. I know there are many technologies in the running for that distinction, but VSC-HDVC technology gets my vote hands-down. It’s current applications are impressive, and it’s a good bet that the next-gen VSC-HVDC technologies will continue that trend. Consider power corridors, multi-functional artificial energy islands, or mesh-grids: they’re under development along with many other VSC-HVDC applications. It’s going to be interesting to see if I’m correct!
